Feb. 23, 2017
By Ryan Berti, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - As the No. 6 team in the country, Penn State is stockpiled full of seasoned veterans that have no shortage of in-game experience under their belts. But, while the upperclassmen may do the heavy lifting, the Nittany Lions still have a healthy dose of young talent on their roster.
One such player is freshman attacker Maria Auth, who introduced herself to the Penn State faithful against Duquesne on Wednesday. In the first road game of her collegiate career, the young shooter stuffed her stat sheet with three goals en route to her first collegiate hat trick.
"I was just excited to be able to contribute in a big way to the team," Auth said as she talked about trying to make the most out of her minutes. "That was definitely a big accomplishment for me and it was exciting."
Head coach Missy Doherty also praised her abilities on the field during the game, as she led the younger players in giving Penn State some extra life with the sticks.
"She did a great job and really in Duquesne a lot of players went in and really brought up the level of our game," Doherty said. "[The underclassmen] did a great job of lifting our team up when we maybe needed a little more energy."
Auth is one of several younger players that has been able to leave their mark on the field this season. Coming off of her big game, she now sits at five points on the season off of four goals and an assist. The attacker is also doing it at an efficient clip. While her numbers may still have a small sample size this early in the season, she currently sits tied for the team's second-best shooting at a .667 clip, trailing only the team's leading point-getter in Steph Lazo (.739).
Early on, coach Doherty already sees things she likes in the freshman as a lefty attacker that adds another wrinkle to the offense.
"She's just a really skilled attacker, a great scorer and competitor, so you know getting some more goals from that left side," Doherty said. "It just adds to our arsenal there on offense."
The Maryland native is one of 13 imports on the team from the state, hailing from the rural community of Street which resides just five miles south of the Pennsylvania border. In her time in the "Old Line State," Auth had an impressive resume not just on the field but in the classroom as well.
In four years of action, she racked up accolades as a US Lacrosse First-team All-American, a two-time Crab Draw All-Star game MVP and a two-time Lacrosse Academic All-American, among many others. Coming off an 87-goal season her senior year with 68 draw controls and 20 caused turnovers, the college lacrosse scene was her oyster, and it was the big-time atmosphere of Happy Valley that caught her eye.
"I just always wanted to come to a big school. I could never really see myself at a small school and the athletic environment definitely helped," Auth said. "There's just so much tradition with athletics and academics here that it just drew me to Penn State"
Now that she has nearly a year under her belt, Auth says she has the hang of things, but it took her a while to ease into the whole process. Like many student-athletes, time management was a habit she had to pick up quick in order to stay on top of things both in practice and with the books.
The strong foundation of upperclassmen and leadership on the squad helped her find comfort instead of commotion, however, as they helped her transition as both as teammates and role models.
"The upperclassmen are amazing. They're great leaders on and off the field at both academics and athletics, so it's always great to have someone to look up to," Auth said. "I definitely couldn't have transitioned as well without their help." Now with a few games under her belt, the first-year player is gaining confidence as she continues to contribute more and more. With more time and more reps, Auth will find her place as a member of the Blue and White while she continues to live her dream.
"Everyone dreams of coming to a D-1 school for sports, and to have it be everything I imagined it would be, it's an awesome feeling to be a part of something so big," Auth said.